Nursery provision wrangle continues

John A. MacInnes

Parents of children at a nursery which has ‘centre of excellence’ status are furious that they are being ignored by Donaldson’s board of governors.

Last week we told how the parents’ campaign group has lodged a petition with the Scottish Government to try and stop the closure.

Parents have been left distraught after the school announced in May that the facility would close and thus far have refused to implement any proposals to save the vital pre-school provision.

A spokeswoman for the board said: “Donaldson’s key priority has to be long term sustainability of the core charitable purpose of the school which is to meet the needs of young people with hearing and complex additional support needs.

“Following careful consideration of the proposals provided for the continuance of the nursery, the Board of Governors has decided the costs involved would result in the school retaining significant financial risk.

“We are aware the decision will be a disappointment but very careful consideration was given to the proposals.”

But parents claim this is a ‘whitewash’ and that their proposals removed all financial risk from the school.

The campaigners had put forward suggestions, at the request of the board of governors, to run the facility as a community nursery and had worked out it would break even on running costs after only four months.

A spokeswoman said: ‘‘We are understandably very angry with this decision.

‘‘With the financial risk removed, it is difficult to see how a lease agreement would interfere with the core charitable purpose of the school.”

Donaldson’s declined to comment further.

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